Bud break in the East

It has happened...buds on one of my Concord vines have started to open...fluffy whiteness is emerging from the brown canes.

There has been no winter in Richmond, or in much of the rest of the country...I spoke with someone in Portland ME yesterday, it was 60 degrees there.

Any other vine-growers notice this yet?

Your post made me run out in the back yard and look at my vines. I checked the Vignoles, Chabourcin, Traminette and Cayuga - no bud break. It has been very mild here also - lows in the 30s and highs around 50 lately. Usually the highs are around 30 and the lows from 5-15 this time of year.

I have two potted vines. The Concord looks dormant, if not dead! But below is a picture of my potted Niagara taken this morning.

Gary, some will look at that photo and see a bunch of twigs and a few leaves. I see beauty in it. Thanks for posting it!

Now, I know Niagara and that looks like young foliage being pushed out of the main trunk or some of the spurs near the trunk. Looks-a-like she's waking up

I've got a fig tree that is supposed to be dormant, but isn't.

This weather is not a good thing. I just told my wife this morning that plants all around our property appear to be confused, and if the weather does happen to shift suddenly to its rightful position, many of those plants will produce nothing in the summer of 2007.

Scary.

A valid fear, Thomas. Even here in CA, I am wary of the early leaf set on my lonely Niagara. One really good frost and ...

Fortunately, with a vineyard of only two vines, it's easy for me to cover them with plastic bags. My dwarf Meyer lemon is doing well, too, but another frost won't hurt it.

Paul, glad to bring a smile to your face.

I am in Southern Maryland a little over an hour's drive from Richmond and just checked my Barbera. No bub break. I do think I have bud swell on many of the vines and with 70 degree weather today I will check again this afternoon.

A friend we gave some of our garlic sets to advised that his had come up and that he had to cover them thickly with mulch. So we checked ours and sure enough they were a couple of inches high, so mulch away we went.

A friend we gave some of our garlic sets to advised that his had come up and that he had to cover them thickly with mulch. So we checked ours and sure enough they were a couple of inches high, so mulch away we went.

The mulch will make them grow even more. Better to snip off the green stalks.

Checked my Concord today and thankfully, no budbreak on it. However, the wild rosebushes not far away have already set forth new leaves!! It's totally nuts. I love this weather for driving and getting about, but it just isn't normal for January.

Can't refer to vines, but the situation is the same over here. Fresh green grass throughout the countryside & in our small garden.

Well...bone dry in California (all the rain is going to the Pac. NW) and we had a quite warm weekend, but temps are falling into the low 20s this weekend, according to "Double L" (A very quirky elderly weather caster ) No precip, or we could see snowfall in the City.

I was forwarded some cold hardiness test results that Tony Wolf did due to the recent warm weather. Using vines in Winchester, they did some testing and seems that most vines could be exposed to about 0F down to a low of -9F for the hardies varieties and still only show 50% bud kill. Chardonnay and Merlot are the highest and most above average but other varieties due not show much different than other years tested. He is stating that from the vineyards that he monitors everything seems dormant and worries are limited.

The details are not with me now but if someone wants me to post the entire text with numbers let me know and I will do so tomorrow night.